MERLIN Properties
Van Lanschot Kempen acted as Joint Bookrunner in the €768 million Accelerated Bookbuild Offering by MERLIN Properties
Transaction highlights
- MERLIN Properties’ capital increase via accelerated bookbuild offering, corresponding to c. 10% of the company’s pre-deal outstanding share capital, generated gross proceeds of €768 million.
- The shares were placed at €13.64 per share, equivalent to the closing price prior to launch, meaning that the new shares were issued without any discount relative to that price, despite elevated market volatility due to the conflict in the Middle East.
- The company’s two largest shareholders, Banco Santander and Nortia Capital, together representing c. 33% of the shareholder base, had irrevocably undertaken to subscribe for new shares on a proportional basis ahead of launch.
- The transaction was widely anticipated, as MERLIN Properties had already indicated during its recent Capital Markets Day the preferred funding path, including an intention to prioritise existing shareholders in the allocation of new shares.
- MERLIN Properties will use the net proceeds from the capital increase for Phase III of its data centre plan.
- This transaction underpins Van Lanschot Kempen’s unique position to support listed real estate companies across subsectors in raising capital, as the most active bank in European Real Estate equity capital markets.
Company description
MERLIN Properties is a Spanish real estate company, focusing on the acquisition and management of commercial real estate assets, with a gross asset value of €12.6 billion as of 31 December 2025. The company is the owner and manager of over 3.2 million sqm of real estate space for rent across 111 office buildings, 111 logistics warehouses, 13 shopping centres, and 3 data centres in operation on the Iberian Peninsula.
Background Van Lanschot Kempen Real Estate
Over the past five years, Van Lanschot Kempen has successfully completed 30 ECM transactions in its real estate franchise, with an aggregate volume exceeding €6 billion, including:
- €921 million Accelerated Bookbuild Offering by MERLIN Properties
- €1.2 billion of Accelerated Bookbuild Offerings by Catena
- €800 million of Accelerated Bookbuild Offerings by WDP
- €540 million of Accelerated Bookbuild Offerings by Aedifica
- €479 million of Accelerated Bookbuild Offerings by Tritax EuroBox
- €280 million of Capital Increases by Montea
- €186 million Accelerated Bookbuild Offering by TAG Immobilien
- €167 million Accelerated Bookbuild Offering by Cofinimmo
- €150 million Accelerated Bookbuild Offering by Argan
- €948m Initial Public Offering by CTP